Got the truck back yesterday, and although I still have a bit of work to do on the interior, it's closest it's been since I've started this project to being in shape to get into some solid cruising. It was ready lat weekend, but a minor issue with te rear height sensors meant a little more work before the airbag setup was 100%.

The updated system is so much better than the prvious setup, and no mods to the front guards were needed. Instead I've got a good looking, legal ride height and a second height for a little more clearance in tighter spaces. It's a credit to both Accuair's system as well as the work and advice from the guys at DW Customs that have trasformed the truck the beats that should have rolled out 12 months ago, but then custom is never easy.

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tags:  Accuair, DW Customs

Clearly I've been neglecting my own log of this build. Even my twitter status is so old the time since I tweeted is 'undefined'! Hmm, so where do I start?

So, I do have a new wiper motor - well, remanfactured anyway. I was in the US for a few weeks and picked it up at a Pep Boys store. Sadly, I didn't get anything else for the truck, as the yanks don't sell much to suit modified F100s with a 351C running LPG. I'd love to go back and go part hunting though. The good news is the wiper motor is installed and working 100%, returning to park and operating as it should.

Before I left for the states, I organised the get the truck back to DW Customs and let the boys at it again. The plan was a rollpan at the rear, and mods to the front guards to allow for more steering lock. The guys didn't like the idea of hacking into the guards, so we're going down a different path, adding a compressor, switching from the pressure-based Dakota setup to an Accuair height controlled system and some custom upper arms for the Jag IFS for more lift. In getting the new system installed, the tank, battery and both compressors are now mounted in a custom cradle bolted up to the chassis underneath the tub - much neater.

When the truck is back, I'm going to have to get off my slack arse and get the interior in a state that's good enough for me to use the warmer months for some well earned cruising.

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tags:  Accuair, DW Customs, rollpan, wiper motor

I spent the weekend working away on the centre console. I took the seat out, layed down some aluminium foil and got to work glassing up the base. I managed to produce suitable base with 1 litre of resin and plenty of chopped mat torn into chunks.

Once the base was cured, I cleaned up the edges, roughly marked out curvature fo the base on some MDF and cut out the sides. I used some scrap plywood to sqaure up the shaped, then bonded the sides to the base. It's now drying, and I'll let that cure during the week.

Next weekend I'll attempt to finish the base structure, ready for paint.

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tags:  centre console, fibreglass

After the Geelong All Ford Day I'd expected this web diary of mine to be a little longer by now - so much for that new wave of enthusiasm! I put aside my procrastination and decided to get those front tubs installed. Seeing as I hadn't managed to do them myself, the few dollars I had been squirrelling away could now fund someone to do them properly!

I'd heard that Hoppers Stoppers had closed down the hot rod shop out the back, so returning there wasn't an option. I'd read plenty about the good work done by Reese, Chad and the lads at DW Customs, so I popped in for a visit back in April. Their new shop is great, and the guys know their stuff.

Getting back to the shop to drop the truck off wasn't without its hassles, as I sheared 4 wheels studs off on the front passenger side. I managed to find a tow without too many hassles, got the truck to the shop and the guys went to work. The pics below illustrate the results. They did a good job, the tubs are nicely welded into each front guard, and they bolt on front and rear at the base like the old plastic tubs did. Plenty of room, and they match the McDonald Bros tubs in the rear. It wasn't without its challenges though, as scallops were required - one in the drivers side to clear the brake master cylinder and one on the other to clear a mess of wiring on the firewall. The bonnet springs also had to be remounted, and after some fiddly adjustment closes just like it always did.

Now that the truck is back, I can get onto the interior... promise!

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tags:  DW Customs, F100, Geelong All Ford Day, wheel tubs

Yeah, the updates have really slowed down. Other than getting the painted frame and seats back into the truck I've not made any more progress to date.

Despite not having down as much to the interior or engine bay as I'd hoped by now, I took the truck along to the Geelong All Ford Day on the weekend to get it out of the shed for a change. It was a huge day, heaps of cars and lots of spectators, though disappointingly for me, a real lack of trucks on show.

My truck was on display smack bang in the middle of the FordForums.com.au area, and while surrounded by plenty of other impressive machinery, did garner its fair share of attention. As always, the paint scheme was a curiosity, with punters labeling it everything from 'snake skin' to 'granite effect' and many giving it the usual finger to see if it had any texture. The stance was also well received, along with the Boze wheels and the Kaval pewter shift knob I mentioned in my last entry.

This has given me renewed enthusiasm to get stuck into it, and get some more work finished on it. Thanks to Jason, Tray, Dazz, Suvo and Scott for the great pics.

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tags:  F100, Geelong All Ford Day

I had a nice little box arrive from Shift Happens in the US, containing something to add that little extra evil to the truck.

It's a pewter knob handcrafted by Kaval, who done a great job in the design, and the final finish. Using a Lokar adapter kit, this was a snap to install and maintain the shift mechanism of the Lokar floor shifter.

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tags:  Kaval, Lokar shifter, pewter, Shift Happens

While a majority of my evenings last week, plus a fair chunk of this weekend was spent painting inside the house, I did get time in the shed to do more of work on the seat frame.

I welded in the final part, the passenger side seat belt latch mount, then got stuck in with the grinder to clean up the welds, strip off any last paint and surface rust, then gave it a few coats of chassis black and left it to dry.

I then completed the two seat belt retractor mounts, and gave them the same prep and paint as the seat frame.

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After fucking about with wiring for so long, I got out my welder and grinder and starting whipping up a frame for the BA Falcon bucket seats I've had sitting around yesterday, based on the original bench seat mounts and rails.

Despite the weather being a bit warmer today I managed to finished enough to have both bucket seats in the truck, and most of the drivers side seat belt setup finished. I've got only got to finish the passenger side seat belt arrangement and neaten up and paint the frame.

I spent a fair amount of time getting the blind nuts welded within the RHS tube to allow the frame to bolt onto the original mounts, then the other tricky part was making sure the seats were aligned properly.

The beauty of this setup is that I can refit the bench seat at any time with only 4 bolts. The challenge will be creating a centre console that can suit both the bench seat and bucket seats (with an extra piece) but still looks decent.

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tags:  bucket seats

Much of time in the shed lately has been spent on re-wiring the truck. The primary goal was the relocate the both left and right front lighting loom segments, as well as the redundant starter solenoid and the associated wiring, as well as the wiring for the twin-thermo fans I installed so that I could fron the front sheet metal tubs to the quarter panels. I also wanted to clean up some other wiring that was messy, bad or just plain useless.

I rerouted and reconnected much of the LPG wiring, including the electric lock-off, fuel gauge and primer switch.

I also refactored the wiring I did behind the dash for the gauges, making it all much neater and in the process removing more redundant elements.

Today I finished it all off, and tested all the various systems without any dramas, except for a loose fuse in the airbag controller whch had me worried I'd messed something up for a few mins. By the end I seemed to have removed a lot of extraneous wiring from all over the place, loads of old insulation tape and plenty of old connecters

I'm pretty happy with the outcome, as all the new connections were soldered and covered with heatshrink before taping up again. Importantly, my front quarter panels are wire free!

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tags:  wiring

Happy day, after months and months of planning, dreaming, measuring I finally had the billet wheels for the truck in my hands on Friday. It's been a bit of a journey, thus the lack of updates.

I put in the order with Zak at Boze Alloys back in October and he made the process very easy. Thanks also to David at McHugh and Eastwood in North Geelong who handled the freight for me. As the wheels were in transmit, I put an order in for my tyres at Associated Cold Tread Tyres in North Geelong. Toyo are the only manufacturer who could make the size and load rating requirements for my rear tyres, so I went with the Proxes ST-II, although I have to wait until next year for the front tyres.

It all came together when I picked up the wheels, dropped them off to have tyres fitted (used the tyres from a pair of my BMW wheels on the fronts for now.) I also went back to Hoppers to grab my bench seat, as I've not progressed the bucket seat frame and I'm not undecided which way I want to go with the seating.

Fitting the rear wheels wasn't as straight forward as I'd expected. The BMW wheels with the 255 wide tyres were already a squeeze to fit between the tub arch and the wheel hub assembly, and no matter what I tried the wider wheels and tyres didn't want to go in nicely. In the end, I had to unbolt the tub from the chassis, and using the beams in my sheds roof and some ratchet straps, pulled each side up enough to squueze the wheels in. I was pondering a tilt-tub at some stage, I might have to make that a priority now!

Having the exhaust fitted and lacking a hoist combined to make the process slower and more tedious than it should have been, so it wasn't until this morning I got the fronts fitted (without dramas) and then reinstalled the bench seat.The floor shift works fine with the bench seat fitted, thus making the decision about what I do with the seating a little more difficult.

I deliberately ordered the front wheels with less offset than the BMW runners I was rolling on, as they were tucking in a little more than I liked. The front now rub on the guards when the truck is fuly dropped and my turning circle - even with the truck at full height - is considerably reduced. I expected the guards would need some work when I got around to putting the front tubs in, so that should sort it all out. I have already started re-routing wiring away from the guards, and have the LHS front now running through the chassis rail.

I'm very happy with the end result, looks even better than the ultra-dodgy photoshop I did 12 months ago when I committed to this style of wheel.

One of the other reason for the lack of updates and progress has been another project I've been working on for my step-son Max. I finally finished his rather large outdoor half-pipe which he's most pleased with. This means I get back onto the truck, and with 3 weeks over Xmas I'm expecting to get a lot of the interior done. I've got the Geelong All Ford Day in Feb as a target to have it fully streetable, hopefully with engineering completed.

PS. Thanks FedEx for charging me import duty on US-made goods when you know perfectly well we have a Free Trade Agreement in place. At least they arrived in good order and on time.

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tags:  bench seat, billet wheels, Boze Alloys, Toyo Proxes ST-II, wheel tubs, wiring